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Oct. 18, 2004 Volume 29, Issue 12 |
Nationally known artist, educator, author to visit
An award-winning abstract artist and author will lead two days of public programs during a special residency this month at Mississippi State.
Tim Lefens of Bell Mead, N.J., will be on campus Oct. 20-22. He is founder of Artistic Realization Technologies, a nonprofit organization that works to empower persons with severe disabilities to create large, expressive artworks.
His 2002 book, "Flying Colors," describes his experiences discovering, fostering and promoting the concept that all people can create art-even those who are nearly immobile. Reader's Digest magazine named it "Non-Fiction Book of the Year."
While at MSU, Lefens will:
-Present a lecture on the 20th titled "A New Way of Seeing" that describes his odyssey leading to the organization of ART and its subsequent national exposure in media ranging from CBS News to the New York Times. The 7:30 p.m. presentation in Lee Hall auditorium also will showcase artworks by some individuals with whom he earlier worked.
-Direct workshops on the 21st and 22nd at the T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability in which volunteer trackers will be paired with aspiring artists with disabilities. The 9-11:30 a.m. and 1-4 p.m. daily sessions also are open to interested observers.
-Chronicle his own personal artistic journey at 7:30 p.m. on the 21st in a Lee Hall auditorium program titled "Abstraction: Purity and Power of the Essential."
-Conclude his visit on the 22nd with a 3-5 p.m. exhibition and reception at the T.K. Martin Center for participating local artists and their works.
The ART concept is based on a principle of facilitating or "tracking" movements that the artist dictates using a head-mounted laser, as well as other technologies. As Lefens writes in "Flying Colors," these "hands" free the artists from their physical constraints. He now has expanded the concept to include sculpture and photography.
For more information about Lefens' residency or to volunteer for training as a tracker, telephone the Martin Center at 325-1028.